Group tackles Bayelsa gov over plan to hold ‘peace walk’

Posted by admin Bayelsa, Headlines, State News Friday, April 13th, 2012

THE proposed plan by the Bayelsa State governor, Honour-able Henry Dickson, to hold a “peace walk” in Yenagoa, the state capital, was, on Thursday, criticised by a group, under the aegis of the Bayelsa Democratic Front (BDF), which said the development may “precipitate chaos of unprecedented magnitude in the state.”

The government said the event was designed to create awareness on the need for stakeholders in the state, including youths, to shun violence and maintain the existing peace in the state and Niger Delta.

But BDF described it as “a one-million man march” packaged by the government against former Governor Timipre Sylva, ahead of the Supreme Court judgment scheduled for April 20.

In a statement signed by the president-general of BDF, Mr Promise Okpo-ebi, a copy of which was made available to the Nigerian Tribune in Yena-goa, on Thursday, the group contended that “we see this rally planned by the Bayelsa State government on the eve of the April 20 Supreme Court ruling on the Bayelsa governorship crisis as a psychological warfare waged against the Nigerian judiciary to send out a clear message to the apex court as it prepares to pronounce the final outcome of the governorship contest.”

The Supreme Court had set aside April 20 to deliver its ruling in the suit between Sylva and the leadership of the Peoples Democratic People (PDP) over the party’s rightful candidate for the already concluded February 11 governorship election in the state.

According to the statement, Okpoebi alleged that Dickson was discreetly planning to orga-nise a rally against Sylva ahead of the judgment, just as he cautioned that such action could lead to serious crisis in the state.

However, the Senior Special Adviser to the governor on Media and Publicity, Mr Daniel Iworiso-Markson, dismissed the allegations of BDF as a deliberate attempt by the loyalists of the former governor to unduly attack the state government, with a view to seeking public sympathy.

He maintained that the “peace walk” was part of the strategy adopted by the government to sensi-tise youths, so that they could realise the importance of the peace currently being enjoyed in the state

-Tribunewp_posts